Chapter 289 289: SSS-Rank Ghoul! King of the Dark Mist!

The footage began with the One-Eyed Owl suddenly appearing on the outer wall of a high-rise and devouring humans.

It ended with the other monster wrapping her inside a black cocoon and carrying her away.

Then the video stopped.

The spacious meeting room fell completely silent.

Everyone stared grimly at the screen.

More specifically, at the unfamiliar monster frozen on it.

Soon, enough time passed to finish half a cup of coffee, yet none of the investigators in the room had managed to calm down.

“How is that possible? That was the One-Eyed Owl!”

A veteran investigator who had participated in the Owl suppression operation ten years ago spoke in disbelief.

He swallowed hard.

If he had not seen the footage with his own eyes, he would never have believed there was a ghoul capable of defeating, perhaps even killing, the One-Eyed Owl.

Only people who had fought the One-Eyed Owl personally understood how terrifying she was.

And ten years had passed since then.

Her strength should only have become even more monstrous.

“The Intelligence Department searched through and reviewed a massive amount of archived material,” Yoshitoki Washuu said with a frown as he enlarged Ivan’s image on the tablet in his hand. “They found no record of any ghoul ever displaying this form before.”

“A kakuja can alter the shape of its kagune, so seeing a form we’ve never encountered isn’t unusual,” Kishou Arima said quietly from Yoshitoki’s left. “But for an ordinary kakuja, doing what we saw in that footage would be extremely difficult. The ghoul in the video transformed blade-shaped kagune into countless fine threads within an extremely short period of time. That suggests his control over his kagune has reached the cellular level.”

Arima looked at the frozen image on the screen.

“He’s strong. Stronger than any ghoul I’ve encountered before. The kagune armor covering his entire body means his defenses will be extremely difficult to penetrate. We would most likely need an SS-rated quinque or something above that level.”

After hearing Arima’s analysis, Yoshitoki gave him an approving look.

“How did you determine that?”

“From the One-Eyed Owl’s fighting style.”

Arima paused briefly before continuing.

“There must have been another fight between them before the footage began, and the One-Eyed Owl lost. She climbed onto Tanaka Tower and fed on the humans inside to replenish her strength.”

He continued in the same calm tone.

“Also, throughout the battle shown in the video, the unknown ghoul was always the one initiating attacks. The One-Eyed Owl kept avoiding them.”

“But judging from the footage, the One-Eyed Owl should be significantly faster than he is.”

“That means during the earlier fight, she must have attacked him directly.”

Arima adjusted his glasses slightly.

“Either she failed to break through his defenses, or his regeneration was so strong that it made continued attacks feel pointless.”

His expression remained unchanged.

“I’m more inclined toward the first possibility.”

“Good analysis.”

Yoshitoki nodded with satisfaction.

“As for the identity of that ghoul, I already have a few leads.”

He brought up several photographs.

The first few showed devastated buildings and streets.

Some structures had been reduced entirely to rubble.

The final photograph showed three people together.

Rize Kamishiro.

Sen Takatsuki.

And Ivan Greevs.

“The three individuals in this image are Rize Kamishiro, the SS-rated Binge Eater, the famous contemporary novelist Sen Takatsuki, and the S-rated ghoul codenamed ‘Dark,’ Ivan Greevs.”

Yoshitoki lowered the tablet.

“The places where these three appeared later became the ruins shown in the previous images.”

His expression turned grave.

“Investigators from the Ward 20 branch also discovered ghoul blood at several of those locations.”

“S-rated?”

Marude Itsuki frowned in disbelief.

“Director, are you telling me the monster in that video is only S-rated?”

He gestured toward the screen.

“Come on. If that bastard is S-rated, then what does that make the One-Eyed Owl? A-rated?”

“For certain special reasons, I underestimated his strength and originally classified his threat level as S-rated.”

In truth, Yoshitoki Washuu had no idea what had happened to Rize Kamishiro.

Everything he knew about Ivan had come from his father, Tsuneyoshi Washuu, the Chairman of the CCG.

“I’ve decided to raise his classification by two levels. From now on, he will be designated an SSS-rated ghoul.”

Yoshitoki looked around the room.

“Codename: King of the Dark Mist.”

“Another SSS-rated ghoul?!”

One of the First Class Investigators exclaimed in shock.

As far as they knew, there was only one SSS-rated ghoul in existence.

The leader of Aogiri Tree.

The One-Eyed King.

Eto Yoshimura had never personally admitted to being the One-Eyed King, but to outsiders, she was unquestionably the leader of Aogiri Tree and the figure they associated with that title.

CCG investigators, however, preferred calling her the One-Eyed Owl.

Of course, Kishou Arima, being a half-human, could technically be considered an SSS-level existence as well.

Nobody would ever think of calling him a ghoul, though.

There was also another SSS-rated ghoul the CCG knew nothing about.

Roma Hoito, founder and leader of the Clowns, the so-called Mother of Chaos.

But she had never revealed her true strength.

To everyone else, she was only considered an SS-rated ghoul.

“Two SSS-rated ghouls… This is bad.”

The investigators in the room had never expected another Triple-S ghoul to suddenly appear.

One SSS-rated ghoul had already given them headaches for more than a decade.

Now there were two.

Humanity’s situation was starting to look seriously fucked.

At that moment, Yukinori Shinohara, commander of the Ward 20 branch, received an emergency alert from a ghoul detention facility.

Seeing Shinohara’s expression change instantly, Yoshitoki asked, “What happened? Why do you look like that?”

“We just received an emergency report from the detention facility. Two ghouls broke in and started massacring the ghouls inside. The investigators stationed there can’t stop them at all. I’ve already sent Juuzou Suzuya and the others over.”

Shinohara stood up immediately.

“I can’t stay on this call. The situation is urgent. I need to get there as quickly as possible.”

The next second, Shinohara’s image on the screen went black.

A disconnection notice also appeared on the tablet beside Yoshitoki.

“Among the areas that haven’t been fully brought under CCG control, Ward 20 was one of the few that remained relatively peaceful.”

Yoshitoki rubbed his brow.

“But ever since Rize Kamishiro appeared there, that balance seems to have completely collapsed.”

And things were only getting more chaotic.

Yoshitoki was now seriously considering designating Ward 20 as a restricted alert zone.

But doing so would mean the CCG would have to pour enormous amounts of money and manpower into evacuating and protecting the civilians living there.

“Send me.”

Arima spoke calmly.

Yoshitoki immediately became even more conflicted.

In the past, he would have agreed without hesitation.

Kishou Arima was the strongest weapon the CCG possessed.

But the appearance of the King of the Dark Mist and the One-Eyed Owl meant that Ward 20 might currently contain two SSS-rated kakuja at the same time.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the One-Eyed Owl had already been killed.

But Yoshitoki considered that unlikely.

If the King of the Dark Mist had wanted to kill the One-Eyed Owl, there would have been no reason to take her away.

On one side was the safety of Ward 20’s civilians.

On the other was Kishou Arima’s life.

For the first time in a long while, Yoshitoki found himself trapped in an agonizing choice.